Halo_ Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe - Eric Nylund [2]
Was she right to consider him for her team of Spartans? Certainly he was bright and resourceful. He was tough and clearly wouldn’t give up easily. But at the same time, what would it do to someone to go through that experience? Nobody knew how traumatized he was. Nobody knew for certain what it had done—and might still be doing—to him. Probably not even him.
“Why are you here?” he asked.
She looked at him and considered. There was no reason to tell him anything; she could simply do as she and Keyes had done with the others and make the decision for him, flash-clone him and kidnap him for, as she’d started telling herself, the greater good. But with the other children she’d in part assumed they wouldn’t understand. Here was a boy without parents who, despite being only six, had had to grow up fast, much faster than her other recruits. Could she tell him more?
“The truth is,” she said, “I came to see you.”
“Why?” he countered.
She returned his even gaze. Suddenly she made her decision. “I’m trying to decide if you’re right for something I’m working on. An experiment. I can’t tell you what it is, I’m afraid. But if it works in the way we hope it will you’ll be stronger and faster and smarter than you could ever imagine.”
For the first time, he looked slightly confused. “Why would you want to do something like that for me? You don’t even know me.”
She reached out and tousled Soren’s hair, was pleased when he didn’t flinch or shy away. “It’s not for you, exactly,” she said. “I can’t tell you much more. It won’t be easy; it’ll be the hardest thing you’ve ever done—even harder than what happened with your parents.”
“And what have you decided?” he asked.
“I’ve decided to let you be the one to decide,” she said.
“What if I say no?”
She shrugged. “You’d stay here on Dwarka. The planetary authorities would arrange a foster home for you.” Not much of a choice, she thought. He’s between a rock and a hard place. She wondered again if she wasn’t being unfair putting the choice on the boy.
“All right,” he said and stood up.
“All right what?” she said.
“I’m coming with you. When do we leave?”
LATER, BACK on board, when she spoke with Keyes, showed him the vid of her conversation with Soren, he asked, “You’re sure about this?”
“I think so,” she said.
He just grunted.
“As sure as I am of taking any of them,” she said. “At least he has a notion of what might happen to him.”
“That’s an awful lot to lay on a child,” said Keyes. “Even one who’s grown up fast.”
She nodded. Keyes was right, she knew. The terms for the test subject known as Soren were different from those of the others—he was coming into the program in a different way from the very beginning. She’d have to remember that and keep an eye on him.
ONE
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What neither Doctor Halsey nor Lieutenant Keyes knew—and what they would never find out, since Soren, though only six, was smart enough not to tell them—was what really happened to him during those three months alone. That was something that Soren, or Soren-66 as he would come to be called, didn’t like to think about. It had been terrible when he realized his mother was dead and that the reason she was dead was because his stepfather had been too worried about going to jail for his illegal farm to take her to a doctor when she got sick. By the time his stepfather was convinced there was no other choice, it was too late; his mother was already gone.
But his stepfather had refused to face it. He moved Soren’s mother’s body into the box room and locked the door, telling Soren that it was not possible to see her, that she was too sick and needed to be alone to recover. That had lasted a few days until finally, late one night, his stepfather had had too much to drink. Soren stole the key and crept slowly through